Of Painters and Padma
by ronniekins77
Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between Dean Thomas and Padma Patil.  Written before OotP.
1. Happy Christmas

**A/N: **This fic is basically a compilation of Dean/Padma drabbles that I wrote a looong time ago – before OotP was released, I believe. Canon universe.

_Happy Christmas_

Padma clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oh, Dean," she breathed.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"How could I not? It's so beautiful! Oh Dean."

He grinned as she took the portrait from him and stared at it adoringly.

"I didn't know what else to do for you...we've only been together two weeks."

Padma stared at him in awe. "Well, after this, we're definitely going to be together for another two weeks!"

He chuckled as she threw her arms around him tightly. He was glad she liked the portrait.

He had drawn it from memory a couple of days ago. It was a picture of Padma wearing a crimson set of dress robes with a low neckline, a gold sash wrapped around her waist. Her long, dark hair was curled and her lips were curved into a brilliant smile. Her eyes were sparkling with delight in the picture.

It was how she had looked when he had realized she was the girl he'd spend the rest of his life with.

It had been her twentieth birthday celebration. Dean had been Parvati's date, because she hadn't wanted to go alone. Being her good friend and having nothing else better to do, he went along.

Padma had appeared at the top of a long, spiralling staircase in the Patil home and Dean hadn't been able to look away. He fixed the image of her in those dress robes in his mind as she walked slowly down the steps. Everyone had clapped happily and then complimented her on how lovely she had looked.

Parvati had noticed his entrancement and laughed. She introduced the two of them, and Dean had been the perfect gentleman. "Nice to see you again, Padma," he had said, kissing her on the hand.

And she had replied, "Er...who are you again?"

Dean had been a bit hurt - they had spent seven years at Hogwarts together, after all - but she made it up to him. She had allowed Dean to cut her birthday cake, which made him fall even harder for her.

He stayed by her side the whole evening, prompting some of the guests to ask whether or not he was her boyfriend. Padma had slyly responded that yes, he was, winking at him. He went along with it.

When he announced that Parvati wanted to leave, Padma looked slightly disappointed. "Well, I'll see you again?"

"Most definitely."

Now they were dating. When Dean had realized that Christmas was right around the corner, he did some quick thinking. Thus, he had decided to draw the portrait of her. Padma had never looked as wonderful as she had on that night.

"I think I love you, Dean Thomas," she said, bringing him out of his reverie.

Dean grinned and kissed her fiercely, taking away not only her breath but his own. "Well then I think I've had a Happy Christmas."


	2. Face Off

_Face Off_

Padma Patil scowled at the sandy haired man sitting across from her. No, scratch that. He wasn't a man. He was a boy. He had the maturity of a boy, at any rate.

Her thought was confirmed when he stuck his tongue out at her. She narrowed her dark eyes at him and bit her lip so that a biting remark wouldn't slip out. Seamus Finnigan was her boyfriend's best friend, after all, and she had to try to be civil.

But it was so _hard_. The Irish accented, selfish, stupid nitwit was so irritating. For Merlin's sake, it had been two bloody weeks since she and Dean had announced that they were dating, and Seamus had yet to accept it.

Oh, he pretended to accept it if Dean was in his company, but Padma knew that Seamus disliked her. His whole demeanor changed when she was around. Take now, for example. His arms were crossed and he was staring moodily at her.

She couldn't take it anymore. "Don't you have another look that you can plaster on your face?" Padma snapped.

Seamus looked affronted. "Why are you looking at my face?"

"It's hard not to!" she sputtered. "You are constantly scowling!"

"And I suppose you're always smiling, yeah?" Seamus said, rolling his eyes.

"You're despicable," she snapped, standing up and leaving the room.

"Thanks very much!" Seamus yelled sarcastically back at her, as she walked into the kitchen.

Dean was standing at the counter, a smirk on his face. "You two will never get along, will you?" he said.

"Dean, why is he even here? If he doesn't like me, he has no right to be in my apartment. His mere presence is affecting the aura of the place!"

Dean scrunched up his face. "Aura? Paddy, when did you start thinking about auras!"

"I'm sorry!" she said shrilly. "I'm so upset I'm beginning to sound like my sister! Just - can't we throw him out?"

Dean raised his eyebrows. "No, we can't. He's staying here until our anniversary party is over. We've been together for a month now, and I'm forcing him to celebrate it with us."

Padma opened her mouth to protest, but Dean placed a finger over her lips. "Now, now, I invited Lavender over. She should be here in a couple of minutes, perhaps she can calm Seamus down. Or at least, persuade him to be civil."

Padma let out a snort. "Fine. But I don't want to have anything to do with Seamus until she comes."

"Fair enough," said Dean, kissing Padma's forehead. "I'm going to go change out of this shirt. I got marinara sauce all over it."

Padma placed her hands on Dean's chest, running her fingers over the material of his shirt. "Damn. I liked this shirt," she said, a sly smile gracing her mouth. "You look so sexy in it."

Dean grinned. "You mean, I don't look sexy without it?"

"Oh no, you're sexy wearing anything. Or...not wearing anything." She stood on her tiptoes to blow a little bit of air into Dean's ear. For some reason, he always got turned on when she did that.

"Hey, save that for later. Why don't you go make sure the Shirley Temples are ready to be served?"

"All right," she whispered, a little shakily. She walked back out into the living room, holding her head high in the air as she passed Seamus.

"How much do you really know about him?" Seamus asked abruptly.

"A lot," she answered tartly, picking up a glass from the dining room table.

"More than I do?"

"Sure," she said nonchalantly, pouring herself some of the drink and adding a marashino cherry on top.

"I'm his best friend."

"I'm his girlfriend."

"He's gotten drunk with me."

"He's gotten drunk _because_ of me."

"That's something to be proud of?" said Seamus. "Oh, of course it would be. How many men have you drove to alcoholism?"

"You sod! He drank because he thought I was seeing someone else!"

Seamus rolled his eyes. "I know that he once had a dream about drag queens and a pony."

Padma sighed. "I've had sex with him," she pointed out.

"I taught him the fundamentals of sex, sweetheart." Seamus gave her a cocky grin.

"I - well, that doesn't mean anything!" Padma snapped, her cheeks flushing a bit. "Why can't you just accept us being together? I mean, you've been his best friend for years! Can't he have room for one more person in his life?"

Padma's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Seamus. All she wanted to do was carry on a happy relationship with Dean, and she wanted Seamus to be support them. She wanted him to approve of her.

"I do accept it," said Seamus grumpily. "It's just...I _have_ been his best mate for years. And you're coming in the way of that. It seems like all he ever does any more is talk about you."

"Really?" Padma asked, wiping away the tear that was rolling its way down her cheek.

"Yeah," Seamus said.

"Funny, that," she said. "It seems like every time he opens his mouth, he's talking about _you_."

"Guess we're even, then," Seamus said, looking a bit misty eyed himself. "I - just, I was jealous of you, okay!"

Padma nodded. "I suppose I was...a little jealous of you as well. But we can both have him, can't we?"

Seamus ran a hand through his hair. Slowly, a shy smile spread across his face. "As long as we can have him equally."

Padma smiled back at him.

"Is Lav here yet?" Dean's voice came. He was walking down the steps, and had changed into a light pink shirt with white stripes. Both Padma and Seamus looked at him incredulously.

"What are you _wearing_?" Padma exclaimed, clapping a hand over her mouth just as Seamus said, "That shirt is disgusting, mate," and looking officially grossed out.

A new voice joined the group. "Well, look at that. Padma and Seamus finally agreed on something! That's quite a big accomplishment, wouldn't you say so Dean?"

"I'd say so, Lav," Dean grinned, as Lavender threw her arms around Seamus' neck.

Seamus and Padma shared a look as Dean went upstairs to change his shirt again. They had accomplished a lot more than agreeing on something.


	3. The Foot of the Staircase

_The Foot of the Staircase_

CRASH!

Padma Patil woke up with a start and looked over at the spot where her boyfriend, Dean Thomas, was supposed to be sleeping. He wasn't there. He hadn't come home. In fact, that was probably him downstairs now. _Stupid bastard_, Padma thought tiredly. She gave another jump when another CRASH sounded.

"Oh, that is _it_, Mr. Thomas," she muttered angrily, climbing out of bed and grabbing her pink dressing gown, which she draped around her shoulders.

She made her way quickly and purposefully down the stairs, prepared to give Dean a piece of her mind. Padma turned on the lightswitch just above the staircase and looked down the flight of stairs to see her boyfriend staggering around, knocking over plant pots.

"Hey!" Padma said angrily. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

He turned to face her, and a crooked grin crossed his cocoa skin. "Hey, muffin," he said.

She rolled her eyes through the slight blush that tinged her cheeks. "That won't work this time, Dean. I can't believe you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk!"

Padma narrowed her eyes. "Really? Prove it."

"Don't want to."

"Dean," she asked testily, tapping her fingernails on the stair railing impatiently, "I'm not waiting here all night. Are you coming upstairs or not?" 

"Yeah, I'm coming," he answered, taking a step forward. He was unbalanced and nearly fell over. Padma let out a sigh.

"Or you can just sleep on the couch..." she suggested, bringing a hand to her clammy forhead.

"Don't want to."

Padma threw her hands up in the air, quite fed up with her boyfriend. "I don't care! Just who do you think you are, getting all drunk like that? Look at you, Dean! You're worse than Parvati!"

Dean giggled.

"Oh for heaven's sake, I am not putting up with this! I refuse! Goodnight, Dean." She stuck her chin in the air and haughtily made her way back to the bedroom, and slammed the door.

The nerve of that man! Padma curled up underneath the blankets, still angry. _He won't be getting a shag tomorrow, that's for certain_, she thought, before closing her eyes.

CRASH!

"_DEAN_!" she screamed furiously, a whine coming into her voice. Once more, she got out of bed and walked to the top of the staircase.

Dean was lying at the the foot of the stairs.

Padma stood at the top of the stairs, simply looking down at him, waiting for him to move. Rolling her eyes at his idiotic behavior, she crossed her arms. After a full minute, she snapped, "All right, Dean. You can stop joking around now."

A snore was his reply.

"You've got to be joking!" said Padma disbelievingly. "Dean, now is not the time to be fooling around!"

Dean rolled over on the floor.

"_Ooh_," Padma simmered, making her way down the stairs. She was at the second to last step when she stopped. Holding onto the rail, she lifted her left foot and nudged him in the side. "Come on, wake up," she begged, now beginning to think that he really was asleep.

All of a sudden, a brown hand reached out and grabbed her foot, causing her to slip. A moment later, Dean had rolled over, pinning her beneath him. A huge smile was on his face. "Hey, muffin," he said sweetly.

Or, not so sweetly, as the smell of his breath was enough to make her hurl.

"Let me up."

"No."

"Let me up! I am very angry!" the brunette said shrilly, pounding her tiny fists into his wide, firm chest.

He laughed. "Oh, shut up, Paddy."

"Don't call me that, you drunk fool!"

"A drunk fool who loves you," he grinned.

She blushed again. "That might be true, but it's very late, you're drunk and you smell awful, and I am tired. I want to go to sleep!"

"I don't smell awful!"

"You do too! You need to take a bath!"

"Wanna take one with me?"

"_Dean_!"

"Yes?"

"Please let me go to sleep?"

"One kiss?"

"Fine," she grumbled, tilting her face to the side so he could kiss her cheek.

"Oh, that's not fair! I don't want to kiss you there!" He sounded positively scandalized.

"Then you don't have to kiss me at all, then!" Padma said, trying to wriggle away from him.

"Okay, okay!" he said hurriedly. He pecked her on the cheek, letting his lips linger there for a couple seconds before moving his mouth away.

"Now can I go to sleep?"

"..."

"Dean?"

"..."

Padma looked up at her boyfriend to see that his eyes were closed and he was breathing softly. She became very aware that his head was resting on her chest and his arm was draped across her waist, while his legs were tangled with her left one.

She let out a wry chuckle. She pushed against him, which did almost nothing to move him off of her. He was way too heavy. "Oh, great," she complained loudly.

Five minutes later, when her own breath was even and she was half-asleep, she could have sworn she heard someone mutter, "Yup."


End file.
